US Politics Audio: "Clinton for President in 2016" --- Scott Lucas with the BBC

With Hillary Clinton visiting Belfast in Northern Ireland on Friday, BBC Radio Ulster asked me this morning, "Is this the start of her campaign for President in 2016?"

Yes.

With that established, we spoke about Clinton's prospects, the assistance of husband Bill, and why the Ireland-US link is so important for the Clintons in the race for the White House.

The discussion starts at the 57:51 mark.

US Politics Analysis: Romney's Team to Republican Convention --- Please, No Fiery Speeches

Mitt Romney speaking on Saturday in Ohio

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Despite the roster of renowned conservative politicians scheduled to speak at the convention, Romney's campaign will aim to present a bland espousal of generic conservative ideas with as little of the controversial and substantial as possible. We will witness a rally for vague concepts like "limited government" and 'individual freedom' designed to present a unified –-- and non-threatening --- Republican face to the rest of the nation.

But the Republican Convention is still important in that it gives Romney one last chance, before the critical television debates with President Obama, to project some personality into his campaign. In his acceptance speech Mitt needs to show that he can empathise with everyday Americans, those who do not employ tax accountants or make small bets of $10,000.

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US Analysis: Why The Tax Returns May Sink the Romney Campaign

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Sadly for Mitt Romney, any valid reasons for not releasing his tax records have now been overwhelmed by the perception of his campaign's inept response. In the business world where he made his fortune, his insistence on the privacy of confidential documents might be a virtue, but in an election for the President of the United States, it has become the vice that may sink him. Even if he does release the records, and even if there is nothing shocking in them, the perception will remain that he has a different idea of the American Dream that he wishes to protect than most of the people he hopes to represent.

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US Politics Opinion: PACs, SuperPACs, and the Best Elections Money Can Buy

Years ago, an American friend told me that the US had the best police forces that money could buy. He did not appreciate the irony in his statement. I wonder if he would do so, if the statement was applied to politicians and "freedom of speech".

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US Politics Opinion: A Look at Overrated Kennedy, Clinton the Master, and Obama Missing His Big Opportunity

Last month, on the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, I had a heretical thought: on 22 November 1963,  one of the country’s most ineffective Presidents was murdered. Accepting that he was in the job for less than three years, he still achieved little in terms of legislation. Kennedy was a smoke-and-mirrors man. It was Lyndon Johnson who got the job done.

Almost 50 years later, I am wondering if history is repeating itself. Oh, President Obama, what did you do yesterday? To use a soccer/football expression, you missed an open goal. You had your opponents at your mercy and let them off the hook.

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US Politics Opinion: Whose Gaffe is It Anyway?

Amidst all of these pitfalls and pratfalls, President Obama, who has been languishing in the polls, has caught up and moved ahead of possible contenders. Maybe the voters are starting to see that their President is trying to come to grips with the worst economic times since the Great Depression and that the bromides offered by his opponents won’t work. Possibly, the same voters are realising that the Republican nominees are both limited and woeful.

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US Politics Opinion: Riffing on Rick Perry and the Republican Campaign's Stepford Wives

Evidently, Rick Perry favours teaching intelligent design as a "science". He supports the repeal of the 16^th Amendment, under which Congress imposes income tax. He is opposed to single sex marriage. 

The conversation got me thinking about this year’s class of Republican hopefuls for the Presidency. I’ve lost count, but as Tim Pawlenty ducked out and Rick Perry threw his hat in, I believe there are 16. If Sarah Palin joins in, that will make 17. But, male or female, politically --- and despite all the current furour about Perry's distinctive style --- they look like Stepford Wives to me.

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US Opinion: Dumpster-Diving Politics --- Why Do Liberals Hate Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin and Michele BachmannHow are the media going to try and damage the chances of another conservative women at becoming president, especially if Sarah Palin gives her backing to Michele Bachmann? There is little doubt left that a liberal media bias has scuppered a Palin presidency. In that they may have done America, and the world, a favour. But to repeat that treatment on another woman, whose personal life is as far removed from the sleazy conduct of an Anthony Weiner or an Bill Clinton as can be imagined, could raise some disturbing questions not just about the values of American journalism but about American liberalism as well.

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Iran Media Shocker: "US Military Helped Killed Princess Diana"

Never let it be said that the investigative reporters of Press TV, the Iranian regime's English-language outlet, are failing to do their job:

The US military may have played a role in the 1997 death of Princess Diana as she was campaigning for a worldwide ban on landmines.

Press TV broke this story --- presumably after months of dedicated research --- by discovering that a man named Noel Botham, has written a book, The Murder of Princess Diana. Botham has also penned "[Princess] Margaret, the Untold Story" --- presumably she was murdered --- and The Bumper Book of Useless Information. And he was the long-time European Editor of the National Enquirer, the US tabloid famous for stories like "Boy Trapped in Refrigerator Eats Own Foot".

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Israel Analysis: Can West Jerusalem Put Palestine Above Iran's "Existential Threat"?

1) Was departing Mossad chief Meir Dagan really pressing the Government by saying it is not the right time to focus on Iran's nuclear programmes at a time when the Palestinian issue should be the one on the table? Was he reinforcing this as a window of opportunity by saying that there is no way to envisage an Iranian nuclear weapon within the next four years?

2) Even if Netanyahu's Forum of Seven agrees to a limited number of concessions following the departure of Defense Minister Ehud Barak from the Labor Party, can Netanyahu and/or his coalition partners give up the Iran card? Can they do so at a time when the world "has not learnt its lesson" from the Holocaust and "there is a great island of instability" in the region, which can even put the peace made with Cairo in jeopardy?

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